New Reds manager David Bell on coaching staffs with analytical expertise: 'I think it's an exciting time in the game because of that'

The Dodgers named Robert Van Scoyoc as their hitting coach even though Van Scoyoc didn’t play beyond college.

And the Reds hired Donnie Ecker as their assistant hitting coach less than five seasons after he coached at Los Altos (Calif.) High School.

New Reds manager David Bell sees no problem with nontraditional hirings of coaches with analytical backgrounds.

“I love it,” Bell, a former coach with the Cubs, said Monday at the winter meetings. “I think that having different perspectives in everything we do in this game, whether we're making decisions or helping our players perform better. Having different opinions and different perspectives from people with different backgrounds and expertise just helps the decision-making process.

“And you're creating an advantage for yourself. I think it's an exciting time in the game because of that. And it's a great time to be a player because you have all these different resources to pull from that you can make adjustments a lot faster. You can maximize who you are as a player. I think it's great.”

Hottovy pitched professionally for the Red Sox (2011) and Royals (2012) but has spent the last four seasons in the Cubs’ advance scouting department specializing in run prevention.

Van Scoyoc, 32, has been credited with turning slugger J.D. Martinez into a star by teaching Martinez the importance of launch angle after the 2013 season, and Van Scoyoc served last season as a “hitting strategist” with the Diamondbacks.

Ecker, 32, also a launch angle specialist, coached in the Cardinals and Angels organizations for only three seasons before joining Bell’s staff.

But Bell, who last served as farm director with the Giants, sees a balance between the traditional methods of coaching and the input of analytics that maximizes the resources.

“There’s certain parts of this game that we all love that they’re not going away,” Bell said. “The competition, the hard work, the team work. That’s not going away. We just have more resources now to make all of that work better. And it’s just even more important to communicate and to work together with all departments. And really have no ego, and be able to work really well together.”

Bell swayed hitting coach Turner Ward from the Dodgers and pitching coach Derek Johnson from the Brewers to join the Reds.